- Softonic Rating:
- Very good810
- License:
- Free
- Added:
- August 2, 2007
- Updated:
- June 10, 2008
- Publisher:
- Website
- File size:
- 4.7 MB
- Downloads:
- 41,666
- DownloadFree
“Share files on the net”
by Cyril Roger
Limewire, one of the world’s most popular peer-to-peer filesharing applications, has received a lawsuit from the RIAA, who are demanding $115 million in damages, claiming the application promotes the infringement of copyright. Similar applications like Grokster and Kazaa have been forced to go legal and speculation goes as to when Limewire will have to buckle and pay up. The existence of the popular P2P application is not under threat, but if you haven’t given it a try yet, here’s just what makes it a standout program.
In terms of file sharing, Limewire is the cream of the crop, offering the essential peer-to- peer tools in what is probably the friendliest interface of applications in its class. Beginners will appreciate the search bar, which allows you to select the type of file you’re looking for, video, image, audio, or program. Limewire has a “what’s new” button to check out what popular files users have recently exchanged. We also enjoyed the direct connect option. If you know the IP address of one of your friends, type it in the box and Limewire will browse that user’s files. This is a quick way of sharing files with someone else and can come in handy when working on a project and exchanging documents. The only little snag we have with direct connect is that it doesn’t let you enter the username, much simpler than looking for your friend’s IP address.
Downloading with Limewire is very intuitive. After you’ve searched and found the file you are looking for, double-click on it to start the downloading process. The speed of your download depends firstly on the quality of your connection (broadband is a minimum), if you’ve correctly opened your router’s ports and whether you’re downloading a popular file or not. We would like to point out the effort that Limewire takes to make itself accessible to beginners. Not only does a tip pop up every time you launch the application, the help option also leads you to Limewire’s support centre, FAQs and a forum to get in contact with other users.
The lawsuit carried out by the RIAA is all the more surprising because of the measures Limewire takes to keep you in the realms of legality. If you decide to download Limewire from its website, you will first have to agree you will not use it for copyright infringement. When you’re configuring the application, you can set content filters, to avoid downloading files that copyright owners do not want you to share. To avoid embarrassing situations, make sure you tick the “block adult content” box, which will filter out any pornographic files from your searches.
The best way of checking the quality of the audio or video you’re downloading is via Limewire’s mini player. It’s fairly basic and to par with the players you find in similar filesharing applications, but we appreciated the way it was integrated in the program.
If there’s one thing that we’re still expecting from the Limewire team, it’s that it finally decides to jump on the BitTorrent bandwagon. Torrents are the way forward when it comes to peer to peer file sharing because of the speed, the security and freshness of downloads. Large files like movies or complete seasons of TV series are much easier to download via BitTorrent. We were also annoyed by the “buy the PRO version” window that popped up every time we started Limewire.
For its wealth of possibilities and huge base of users, (more than 4 million simultaneously on the Gnutella network) we encourage you to give Limewire a test drive. Because of the controversial nature of the application, you should always make sure that you aren’t using Limewire for illegal activities like copyright infringement. However don’t be scared off by the legality issue. Limewire, like most P2P applications is one of the most exciting possibilities that the internet gives us. It would be a shame not to give it a try. You should also check out Frostwire, the not-for-profit project of the Limewire development team.
Languages:
English
Recent changes in LimeWire:
- Updated interface
- Firewall to firewall transfers and increased performance for finding rare files and downloading speed
OS requirements for LimeWire:
- OS: Mac OS X
Minimum requirements:
- Mac OS X 10.4 or later
- Search new files
- Direct connect with a friend
- Integrated media player
- Block adult content
- Filter out content that copyright owners do not want to share
- Lots of help files
- Pop-up window asking you to buy PRO version
- No Bittorrent support yet
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From the publisher of LimeWire
LimeWire allows you to search for multiple files at the same time, available in several different languages, and is most famous for its ease-of-use and cross-platform compatibility. LimeWire will run on Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Solaris, and other operating systems so you'll be finding the best P2P content.
LimeWire also offers:
- Ease of use - just install, run, and search
- Ability to search by artist, title, genre, or other metainformation
- Elegant multiple search tabbed interface
- "Swarm" downloads from multiple hosts help you get files faster
- iTunes integration for Mac and Windows users
- Unique "ultrapeer" technology reduces bandwidth requirements for most users
- Integrated chat
- Directly connect to a computer
- Browse host feature--even works through firewalls
- Added Bitzi metadata lookup
- International versions: Now available in many new languages
- Connects to the network using GWebCache, a distributed connection system
- Automatic local network searches for lightning-fast downloads
- Support for MAGNET links that allow you to click on web page links that access Gnutella
More LimeWire screenshots
Posts about LimeWire in our blog
- New Limewire to get a browser by Cyril Roger
- Top 5 LimeWire acceleration tools by Nicholas Mead
- Top 5 BearShare add-ons and extensions by Nicholas Mead
- How legal is P2P file sharing? by Nicholas Mead
- Speeding up Limewire by James Thornton
Sponsored Links
Programs similar to LimeWire
LimeWire options
Reviews for LimeWire in other languages
LimeWire in other platforms
- LimeWire (Windows)
User Rating
49 ratings- Usability
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- Currently 8/10.
- Stability
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- Currently 8/10.
- Installation
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- Currently 8/10.
- Functionality
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- Currently 8/10.
- Appearance
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- Currently 8/10.







